… In the beginning of an investigation of Metatron
symbolism, several theories about the possible etymological origins of the name
“Metatron” must be presented. Despite the substantial scholarly efforts to
uncover the etymology of this puzzling word, the name of this principal angel
still poses an enigma for students of Jewish mystical literature. No scholarly
consensus exists about the origin of the name Metatron, which occurs in two
forms in rabbinic literature one written with six letters,
Nwr++m, and the
other with seven letters,Nwr++ym.
Scholars offer numerous hypotheses about the possible etymology of these Hebrew
lexemes.[1]
At least nine scholarly positions deserve mention.

1. Some scholars propose that the name Metatron may be derived
from )r+m, which
can be rendered as “keeper of the watch,” a noun possibly derived from the root
r+n, “to guard,
to protect.”[2]
Hugo Odeberg points to the earliest instance of this derivation in Shimmusha
Rabbah where Enoch was clothed with the splendor of light and made into a
guardian of all the souls that ascend from earth.[3]
This hypothesis is shared by Adolf Jellinek, who considers
r+n as a
possible etymological basis for Metatron,[4]
and Marcus Jastrow, who in his dictionary points to
)r+m as a
possible etymological progenitor of Metatron.[5]

2. Another hypothesis suggests that the name may be derived
from the merging of the two Greek words meta&
and qro&noj, which in combination,
meta&qronoj, can be translated as “one
who serves behind the throne,” or “one who occupies the throne next to the
Throne of Glory.” This hypothesis has been supported by a number of scholars,
but has been rejected by Scholem, who observes that “there is no such word as
Metathronios in Greek and it is extremely unlikely that Jews should have
produced or invented such a Greek phrase.”[6]
Scholem also indicates that in talmudic literature the word
qro&noj is never used in place of its
Hebrew equivalent.[7]
He concludes that despite the attempts of some scholars to find additional proof
of the etymology of the name Metatron as a combination of the Greek
me&ta and
qro&noj, “this widely repeated
etymology … has no merit.”[8]

3. A third etymological option is that the name may be derived
from the Greek word su&nqronoj in the
sense of “co-occupant of the divine Throne.”[9]
Odeberg criticizes this etymology because “there is not a single instance in any
known Jewish source of Metatron being represented as the co-occupant of the
divine Throne.”[10]
Saul Lieberman, however, in his examination of the etymologies of the name,[11]
provides new reasons for accepting this option.[12]

4. Another hypothesis proposes that the name may be associated
with the Persian Mithras. Odeberg lists a number of parallels between Metatron
and Mithras, highlighting their similar celestial functions. He suggests that
the depiction of Mithras as the Guardian of the World, the Mediator for the
Earth, the Prince of the World, and the Witness of all thoughts, words, and
deeds recall similar titles and activities of Metatron.[13]

5. The name may also be derived from the Latin metator
(a leader, a guide, a measurer, or a messenger), which transliterated into
Hebrew characters produces
rw+y+m or
rw++ym. This
etymology was supported by several famous Jewish medieval authorities, including
Eleazar of Worms and Nachmanides.[14]
Scholem criticizes this hypothesis, arguing that “there is nothing in the
authentic sayings about Metatron that justified the derivation of the name from
metator.”[15]

Despite Scholem’s skepticism, Philip Alexander has recently
drawn attention to this etymology. Clarifying the origins of the term, he points
to the Latin word metator, which occurs also in Greek as a loanword under
the form mitator, and sometimes designates the officer in the Roman army
whose mission was to be a forerunner, i.e., to go ahead of the column on the
march in order to prepare a campsite.[16]
In view of this designation, Alexander suggests that the appellation “may first
have been given to the angel of the Lord who led the Israelites through the
wilderness: that angel acted like a Roman army metator, guiding the
Israelites on their way.”[17]
He also proposes that it is quite possible that Enoch himself could be viewed by
adepts as metator or forerunner since he was the one who showed them “how
they could escape from the wilderness of this world into the promised land of
heaven.”[18]Alexander
stresses the fact that metator is clearly attested as a loanword in
Hebrew and Jewish Aramaic gives additional strength to this etymology.[19]

6. Still another possible etymological source for the name
“Metatron” is the Greek me&tron, “a
measure.” Adolf Jellinek may well be the first scholar to suggest
me&tron as an alternative explanation
of Metatron, on the assumption that Metatron was identical with Horos.[20]
In his recent article Gedaliahu Stroumsa provides some new convincing reasons
for the acceptance of this etymology. These reasons focus on the fact that
Metatron not only carried God’s name but also measured the Deity and was thus
viewed as God’s Shi(ur
Qomah (the measurement of the divine Body).[21]
Stroumsa argues that “renewed attention should be given to
me&tron and/or metator (a
conflation of the two terms should not be excluded) as a possible etymology of
Metatron.”[22]
Matthew Black, in a short article devoted to the origin of the name Metatron,
expounds upon an additional facet of this etymology. Black traces the origin of
the word “metatron” to a previously unnoticed piece of evidence found in Philo’s
QG, extant in Armenian, where among other titles of the Logos, the term
praemetitor can be found. Black suggests that praemetitor could be
connected with the term metrhth&j, the
Greek equivalent of the Latin metator, “measurer,” applied to the Logos.[23]

7. Joseph Dan has recently proposed that the name “Metatron”
may be connected with the function of this angel as the bearer of God’s name. In
Metatron’s lore this principal angel is often named as the “lesser YHWH,” that
is, the lesser manifestation of the divine Name. Dan takes the “him” in Exodus
23:21, “because my name is within him,” as referring to Metatron,[24]
suggesting that “he has within himself God’s ineffable name, which gives him his
power.”[25]
Dan further proposes that, in view of the phrase “my name is within him,” the
name Metatron might be construed as related to the four letters of the divine
Name.[26]
He observes that “it appears that the reference here is to the letters tetra,
i.e., the number four in Greek, a four-letter word in the middle of the name
Metatron.”[27]
Dan, however, causiously points out that this etymology cannot be explored
sufficiently for verification.

8. In the introduction to his recent French translation of
3 Enoch, Charles Mopsik suggests that the etymology of the name “Metatron”
can be linked to the biblical Enoch story and might derive from the Greek
terminology found in the Septuagint rendering of Gen 5:24, “Enoch walked with
God; then he was no more, because God took him.” Mopsik observes that in the
Septuagint version of Gen 5:24 and Sirach 44:16, the Hebrew verb
xql (“to take”)
is rendered by the Greek verbs mete&qhken
or metete&qh.[28]
He argues that the most significant part of the term “Metatron” (Nwr++m)
is the first three consonants of this word, namely, MTT (++m),
since the suffix RON (Nwr)
is a technical addition which represents a common feature of the various angelic
names in Jewish angelological writings. Mopsik concludes that it is possible
that the three consonants for the most meaningful part of the name Metatron,
++m, are
transliterating in one form or another the Greek
metete&qh. Keeping in mind these
linguistic parallels, Mopsik suggests that the name “Metatron” could designate
“the one who has been translated” and thus would be in direct relation to the
Enoch story and his translation to heaven.[29]

9. One also cannot dismiss the possibility that the name
“Metatron” may have no etymological parallels. Several scholars observe that
this name does not necessarily have an etymology since, for example, it “could
be gibberish, like the magical names (Adiriron
and Dapdapiron, with which the Hekhalot-Merkabah texts abound.”
[30]

In conclusion it should be noted that the text of the Slavonic
apocalypse also appears to contain a testimony pertaining to the name Metatron.
This evidence, however, will be examined in detail later in the section of this
study dealing with the analysis of 2 Enoch materials…..

[1]
The following statement of Gershom Scholem can serve as an “optimistic”
motto to any collection of the possible etymologies of the word “Metatron.”
He observes that “the origin of the name Metatron is obscure, and it is
doubtful whether an etymological explanation can be given. It is
possible that the name was intended to be a secret and has no real
meaning, perhaps stemming from subconscious meditation, or as a result
of glossolalia.” Scholem, “Metatron,” EJ,
11.1445–1446.

[24]b. Sanh. 38b: “Once a Min said to R. Idith: It is written,
And unto Moses He said, Come up to the Lord. But surely it should
have stated, Come up unto me! – It was Metatron [who said that],
he replied, whose name is similar to that of his Master, for it is
written, For my name is in him.” The phrase is also used in 3 Enoch
12:5 (Synopse§15) in
the context of the explanation of Metatron’s title the “lesser YHWH”:
“He [God] sets it [crown] upon my head and he called me, ‘The lesser
YHWH’ in the presence of his whole household in the height, as it is
written, ‘My name is in him.’” Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 265.

[26]
In respect to this etymology, it is noteworthy that one Aramaic
incantation bowl identifies Metatron with God. Alexander observes that
“the possibility should even be considered that Metatron is used on this
bowl as a divine name.” Alexander, “The Historical Setting of the Hebrew
Book of Enoch,” 167. For a detailed discussion of this inscription see
Cohen, Liturgy and Theurgy, 159; Lesses, Ritual Practices to
Gain Power, 358–9.